Life on the Other Side
by TARDISTraveller
Summary: Series of Oneshots describing the normal, domestic life of one Rose Tyler and her Half-human/Half-Timelord Doctor. Prompts Wanted!
1. Sunday Morning

Sunday Morning

Birds twittered and chattered away in the tree just outside the window. Their songs penetrated Rose's calming sleep and forced her into a rude awakening. Before she even bothered to open her eyes, she flipped over, onto her stomach, and pulled her wrinkled and unevenly stuffed pillow over her head. The birds songs wouldn't be muffled. Somehow, the sound seemed to be echoed through the fabric of the pillowcase. With a groan, Rose cracked her eyes open.

The sunlight streamed through the corner of the window, beaming a triangle of tiny floating dust particles in the air at the edge of the bed. The covers were strewn all over, reflecting its inhabitants' fitful and dream-filled sleep. Rose sat up slowly, keeping as much of herself as she could beneath the covers. With a glance to the clock beside her, she read that it wasn't even seven A.M. yet. Silently, she questioned why birds liked waking up so early.

Her shoulders slumped back into the soft mattress, hand raising to her eyes like a mask. With the birds practically screeching outside, it would be impossible to fall back asleep, but she wasn't about to give up hope.

Her hand pulled away from her face and she raised an eyebrow at her sleeping companion. The Doctor was still sound asleep, his breathing slow and even. His hair was tousled all over the place, the way Rose silently loved, as were his blankets. One half was almost completely hanging over the side of the bed rather than laying on top of him. Rose's fingers worked through his hair gently, lips pursed in a slight frown. Had he had another nightmare? Was he still in one?

Mostly what Rose wondered was how the man could possibly be sleeping so peacefully when the birds in the yard were shouting like they were.

Beep! Beep!

So much for peaceful and quiet. Another groan released from Rose's throat. The alarm. How had she forgotten to turn off the alarm? Her eyes rolled as she wacked the button on the infernal contraption beside her. They had set it yesterday so they would go on a morning run (as if that was ever going to happen), but Sundays were for sleeping. The alarm should know that. At least, Rose thought so.

The Doctor turned onto his side, so that he was facing Rose, and lowered his eyebrows. Quietly, he muttered incoherently. Rose stroked his hair gently with her thumb. "Just go back to sleep."

The Doctor's eyes opened slightly, taking in Rose's sleepy, yawning features. A smile curled his lip. "Morning."

Rose returned his smile with a warm one of her own, "Morning."

The Doctor rolled over and jumped out of bed in one swift motion, causing Rose's head to pop up, eyes blinking at her husband. The man's grin spread across his face. "Pancake Sunday, right?"

Rose covered her eyes with a hand, but her smile remained undimmed. "You have too much energy in the morning."

"The perks of being half Timelord."

Rose shook her head as she sat up and lowered her hand from her face. As the Doctor's beaming grin entered her view, she couldn't help but return it with one of her own, allowing her tongue poking through her teeth as she laughed.

Slowly, the sound disipated and left a calming silence in the room. The birds chirps softly filled the space, and or once Rose didn't find them annoying. Their songs were actually quite pretty now that she was up and awake.

For a moment, the young woman merely stared, mind absent, at the scene around her. The Doctor was standing expectantly beside the bed she sat on, his hair still Ruffles and clothes wrinkled from a good night's rest. Above his cheeks were te unmistakable dark circles of sleepiness, though his eyes were shining with joy that stretched his lips across his face. It was mornings like this that Rose realized how lucky she was. They had been separated, but they had found each other agai but. Against all odds; against all hope. Sometimes she thought it was a dream, but no, this was real. The Doctor and her, living a completely ordinary, boring, human life. And it was wonderful.

"So...pancakes?"

Rose blinked out of her reverie and nodded her head in reply. "Yeah, yeah...pancakes."

The Doctor's hand appeared in front of her, and she took it with her own, using their bond to raise herself up out of the comfy, soft blankets. Her bare feet padded onto the hardwood beside the Doctor. The cold shivers that ran up her leg almost made her want to retreat back into bed, but the promise of food urged her towards the kitchen, the Doctor following just behind. Their hands remained entwined until the Doctor was forced to separate to grab the cookbook from the high shelf across from the fridge.

"Okay, let's see what we've got here...flour, eggs, water..."

They cooked as if performing a well practiced dance. As Rose bent to a lower cupboard for a measuring cup, the Doctor swerved around her, seamlessly, to get a spatula from the counter. Rose stood up on her tiptoes to get the baking soda at just the right moment so that the Doctor could dot her nose with some flour stuck to his fingers. She giggled at that, but took her revenge a few minutes later by splashing his whole upper body with water she was getting from the sink. His moth fell nearly to his chest as he gazed at her with wide eyes. She laughed fully, hand going to the stitch in her side as he grabbed a towel and dried off his face. His hair drooped down weakly under the water weight.

Twenty minutes later, they say at the kitchen table with two plates of pancakes and a half-finished jar of syrup sitting in front of them. The Doctor's T-shirt was still damp in places, creasing darkly around the collar. He and Rose both had flour blithe he'd in their hair and clothes. The dollop still remained on Rose's nose, making the Doctor smile every time he looked up at her.

"Want some more syrup?"

"Is that even a question?"

The Doctor slid the jar to his companion with a smirk and stared silently as she poured it over her food. Her eyes flitted up every few seconds, taking in the way he was watching her. With furrowed brows, she cut a piece of pancake for herself. "Alright?"

The Doctor hardly seemed to hear her, simply nodding without a sound. His eyes seemed almost glazed over. Rose pondered over his strange expression as she tasted the warm, comforting old taste of Sunday morning. "This is so good; we should do this more often. Pancake Monday tomorrow?"

The Doctor was still absent. He hardly even reacted to her besides very slightly moving his head up and down. Rose drummed on the table and leaned forward. "Ok; what is it?"

At this, the Doctir suddenly seemed to come back to earth, eyes widening as they focused on Rose's and then dropped to his plate. He shook his head softly as he dug into his food quickly "Nothing. Pancakes are good, then?"

Rose eyed him curiously, and he smiled in return, mouth full. As soon as he swallowed, he stated, "Molto Bene."

A pang shot through Rose's chest at the old word. He hadn't said the phrase quite as much as the Timelord him had, owing to his half-Donna-ness. It was more likely nowadays for him to retort sassily.

It was clear from his dropped eyes and gritted teeth that he knew what she was feeling. He had been remembering the old Doctor, too. The other Doctor; the adventurer. Silently, he returned to his breakfast.

"We're you thinking about him?"

The Doctor lifted up his chin, opting to stare at the table instead of meeting Rose's gaze. The young woman continued, "Just now; is that why you looked so distracted?"

The Doctor finished the pancake he was eating and finally looked into Rose's eyes. They were comforting and shining and nervous. This wasn't an accusation; this was a plea.

With slight hesitation, he nodded his head. The room was deathly quiet; not even the birds could be heard. The Doctor cleared his throat. "I love living here, with you. Just, sometimes...I miss it."

Rose was watching a spot of dust floating in from the window. A smile curled her lips without her knowledge. "I miss it, too, sometimes. I mean, I love it here too, and I-I love...you," she grinned at him, and his face lit up, "but every now and again, I don't know..."

"Exactly."

They each took a moment then, staring above each other's heads, absentmindedly tapping their sticky forks on their even stickier plates. Only a few remains of the pancakes sat forgotten on the dishes in front of them.

The Doctor was the first to move, sniffing loudly and widening his eyes as he picked up his silverware. "Anyway; best be off. We're visiting your parents later, right?"

"Right."

Rose and the Doctor cleared the table without another mention of time travel or aliens. Of course, the matter never left the back of their minds, and it was certainly going to come up again someday, but for now, the two companions were satisfied with cleaning and drying the dishes. Because that's what the Doctor and Rose did: they carried on.


	2. A Light Jog

A *Light Jog

*It's bigger on the inside

Rose tied her neon shoelaces together swiftly, fingers flitting around so quickly she couldn't even see them as they did their work. The new trainers she had on were just as brightly colored as the laces, sporting two yellow lines over a TARDIS blue background. A lot of things they had bought recently seemed to be TARDIS blue. I've she was finsihed, she looked over herself in the mirror beside the ottoman she was seated on as smiled to herself. She looked like a fitness trainer; she wasn't going to deny it. Her hoodie and leggings went together seamlessly, and her hair was pulled back in a perfectly adorable ponytail. "Doctor, you ready?"

She allied for him even as she kept her eyes on her reflection, tilting her head to make sure everything was okay. The silence that followed her question furrowed her brows. "Doctor?"

She turned away from the mirror and peaked into the living room where the Doctor was still pulling on his shoes. "Ready to go?"

He nodded without looking up, focused on the new running shoes he had already finished tying. Rose approached him and peered down at his trainers as well, biting her lip as she glanced to him again. "You okay?"

"This is the first time I haven't worn Converse since I regenerated."

Rose covered her face with a hand, smiling into her palm. Silently, she shook her head and forced herself out of her laughing fit. "Can we can going? The park is gonna be crowded later."

The Doctor Rose slowly to his feet, testing out his shoes by walking in place a few times. "I still don't see how this is better than Converse."

"You'll thank me later."

Looking over him, Rose found it hard to turn for the door. He was sporting shorts for one of the first times ever, and the hoodie he was wearing made him look like a university student. Forget running, she wanted to snog him right then and there.

Against her own will, Rose spun around and raced out the door, hearing the Doctor sigh behind her. "Still running off without me? I thought those days were over."

Rose laughed at his joke as she forced her legs to pace themselves. This wasn't running for her life anymore, she had to remind herself. This was a nice little jog with the man of her dreams.

The Doctor caught up and passed her within a few seconds, but she surged forward to join him again. The excercise felt good, if she were honest. The sun was shining, kids were playing football in a yard down the street, the birds were flying and chirping above on the telephone wire; all was right with the world. Life was good.

Before ten minutes had passed, Rose regretted suggesting this run. Her chest burned. Her breath came in short bursts to her lungs. Her legs felt like spaghetti. The pavement seemed to be stabbing into her feet with every step. The Doctor stayed back with her, but she knew he could've gone a lot faster. He may have only been half-Timelord, but his energy levels seemed far beyond human. Even as they entered their third lap around the block, he was chatting away.

"So then I told him, if you want something done, do it yourcellf. Get it? Yourself? He was a one celled organism?"

Rose laughed sarcastically, wasting some much needed air. The Doctor slowed his pace to almost a walk, and she followed suit not unwillingly. She bent to her knees, stopping their jog entirely, and heaved for air.

In between breaths, she inquired, "How...do you still...have energy?"

The Doctor, breathing a bit faster than usual, smirked back at her. Immediately, she pointed a finger in his direction, her grin matching his. "Don't say it."

"Perks of being half Timelord!"

The Doctor swerved out of the way as Rose swatted her hand at his shoulder. They were like children, playing on the sidewalk, chasing each other up and down the pavement. All exhaustion seemed to have been forgotten, especially by Rose.

They played like that for another five minutes, hooting with laughter and dancing with delight. When the excitement finally disipated, the two dropped, sweating and smiling, into the grass of an old, retired lawyer's yard. Rose looked to her companion and chuckled. His eyes were closed, hair damp and drooping, breathing fast. It was like primary school all over again; happy exhaustion and tingling joy resting in their chests. The sun was beating down, but every few seconds a breeze passed through, giving them a cool embrace. Children's laughter reached their ears from down the road. Dogs barked. This was bliss. This was perfection defined.

"Oi! What the hell are you two doing in my yard?"

The moment ended. Rose and the Doctor jumped to their feet, eyes wide and smiles fading slightly. The man at the door had a scowl on his face that reminded Rose of a maths teacher she had once. God, she had hated him. Even the memory of those equations brought a shiver down her spine.

She didn't even notice the Doctor take her hand until his breath was in her ear. "Run."

In a daze, she followed closely behind his retreating footsteps, holding onto his sweaty fingers like a lifeline. Behind them, she could hear the grumpy shouts of the old lawyer, and smiled. It was just like running from a suburban Dalek.

Rose felt a stabbing and a lifting in her chest almost simultaneously. The Doctor looked like, well...the Doctor. The fully Timelord Doctor. The one who had told her to run and had taken her on adventures and showed her the universe. As they rounded the final corner to their small house, Rose's grin widened. This was just as big of an adventure. Living in the suburbs of London with him could be just as great and fun as traveling in the TARDIS. Maybe it would be an even bigger adventure.

They slowed their pace gradually, and finally began walking towards their front door. The Doctor dug in his pocket absentmindedly, looking to Rose with a small grin. "Just like old times, eh?"

Rose looked up into his big, brown eyes and practically tackled him in a hug. Her arms barely stretched up and around his shoulders, so he bent down slightly, returning the gesture with closed but smiling eyes. Rose kissed heirs cheek quickly before lowering her face to his shoulder. "Even better."

The Doctor felt a weight in his chest he hadn't known he was carrying lift. Rose was happy, actually, properly happy, here, with him. And that felt fantastic.


	3. Sleep like an Oncoming Storm

Sleep Like an Oncoming Storm

Most of the time, the Doctor and Rose's life in Pete's world was perfect. They had friends; family; lucrative and useful jobs at the new Torchwood; best of all, they had each other. But even they had their problems, especially when the sun sank down and the shadows came. When the trees creaked and time pushed the clock hand ever so slowly around its axis. These were the worst times, full of fear and anxiety, in the Smith-Tyler household.

It began one night, just a week or so after they had moved in together. The day had gone well, if a bit nerve-wracking, and they had successfully avoided yet another alien invasion into Torchwood Tower. They were lying quietly in their shared bed, not daring to make contact with one another as they were still new to this arrangement, when Rose was awoken by the Doctor's voice.

Her eyes opened slowly, still halfway in dreamland, as soft whimpers and groans reached her from the opposite side of the bed. Her eyebrows creased as she struggled to wake from that state of sleep that she so loved. When the man beside her rolled over, releasing yet another childlike grunt, Rose pushed away her dreams and sat up.

By the light of the moon, Rose could see the sweat beading on her friend's forehead; the distress lining the skin around his mouth. Softly, she edged out of the covers and off of the bed, flipping on a small bedside light without hesitation. The Doctor's pained expression received a strange glow, but did not otherwise change.

Rose paced swiftly to the other side of the bed, feeling her heart pounding against her ribs. The Doctor was still panting and occasionally muttering. Rose put two small, unsteady, hands on his shoulder and shook him lightly, gritting her teeth. In a quiet voice, she whispered, "Doctor?"

He rolled over, holding the blankets tightly to his chest. Rose sighed, and then steeled herself. In a stronger voice, she called out, "Doctor; wake up."

The man's eyelids separated slowly at first, and then shot open, revealing his wide and panicked brown eyes. Rose put a comforting hand on his other shoulder as he sat up quickly on bed, panting even heavier. "Shh; it's alright. Just a dream."

The Doctor gulped hard, blinking his eyes rapidly to keep the silly tears from escaping. Why did this have to happen in front of Rose? Why now; when they were finally happy and at peace?

Rose wrapped her arms around his neck, stroking his hair with her fingertips. Her own heart was racing, tears falling down her tired face. They left small lines where they traced her cheekbone and fell onto the blankets below.

Slowly, she sank down beside him, still holding onto him. The Doctor's head rested on her shoulder weakly, making his hair tickle her chin. A tiny smile played at Rose's lips.

She heard him sniff a few times, but didn't mention it. She rubbed her hand over his arm in what she hoped was a soothing manner, closing her eyes as if escaping back into her dreamworld.

After a few minutes, they both seemed to calm down, and the Doctor leaned back onto the headboard, wiping at his eyes quietly. Rose pushed herself to her side of the bed and sat beside him, staring mindlessly at her nails as her hands rubbed together. The silence was almost painful.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

Rose glanced over to the Doctor, who was holding his gaze on the far wall, expression blank. She thought she saw anger hidden his eyes. Just when she had given up waiting for a response, his soft voice broke through the empty space. "How do you deal with it?"

Rose creased her brows, lips parting slightly. "Deal with what, Doctor?"

"Doing what we do as a human. Saving the world; stopping aliens. It's easy for a Timelord. But with a human brain...I'm only half human and I can't cope with it all. How do you do it?"

Rose bit her lip, struggling theough the tired muck in her brain to find a helpful response. When his eyes met hers again, she adjusted herself and replied, "I guess...you get used to it. It takes a while."

"What if I can't do it anymore?"

Rose took his hand in her own, pouting her lip as she looked over his weary expression and dazed eyes. "You can. I know you can. And if you can't, then we'll figure something out. You're basically a genius; you can do anything."

Finally, the Doctor smiled, eyes brightening as they looked into Rose's. "Thank you."

They hugged each other tightly for a minute, simply breathing each other in and calming their rapid hearts and minds. Of course, they would have many more nightmares to deal with throughout their time in Pete's world, but they learned how to live with them. Together, they took on the strange fears of the night and conquered their demons, one at a time.


	4. Caffeine for the Soul

Caffeine For the Soul

Work at Torchwood had reached its peak. Aliens and spacecrafts and destruction in every city on the planet. At least, that's how it had been last week. Now there was just a load of paperwork stacked incredibly high beside the Doctor and Rose's dining room table. More of the painfully dull papers lay scattered in organized chaos on top of the table, and yet more waited apprehensively to be stapled in the living room. As for the two Torchwood employees, they sat in chairs usually saved for delicious holiday banquets and loving family events, staring with eyes glazed over at the piles of work in front of them. Lazily, the Doctor signed his pseudo-name, 'John Smith', for the fiftieth time that night and set the paper on top of a nearby stack.

Rubbing his face in his hands, he leaned back in his seat. "Why do we always get stuck with all the paperwork?"

Rose sleepily replied, "Because we always cause the trouble."

They both chuckled lazily, but the sound dissipated as they turned back to their respective papers. A second later, the Doctor was tapping his foot against the floor and Rose was stretching her back, letting out a long, drawn out yawn. The Doctor disturbed the momentary silence once again to suggest, "Do you want to get coffee?"

Rose raised an eyebrow at him, then picked up her phone without uttering a word. She shined the bright screen into his sleepy eyes, blinding him for a moment, as she asked humorously, "Do you see what time it is?"

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "I know somewhere where they always sell fresh, hot coffee."

Rose closed her eyes. "Doctor, if you suggest that place one more time..."

"What? We can give them a chance, at least."

Rose put a hand on his arm, leaning in to focus on his eyes more clearly. "Look, I know you're still gettin' used to human life and all that, so just take my word: you do not want corner shop coffee; especially not corner shop coffee at one in the morning."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat, taking Rose's hand tightly in his own. "Live a little, eh?"

Without warning, he stood up rapidly from his chair, taking a surprised Rose with him. "Doctor!"

He threw a quick grin over his shoulder as he led her to the door. "Come on; We'll go on a little adventure. Just like old times."

Rose ignored the tiny sting that shot through her chest at his words and followed him outside, muttering a quick, "Don't say I didn't warn you," as she closed the door.

They marched down the sidewalk, at first with the Doctor leading Rose, then side by side, hand in hand. In the domestic trees that lay in front yards, crickets chirped and strange owls cooed. The wind rushed through Rose's arm, forcing her to zip up her hoodie with her free hand as she gripped tighter on the Doctor's palm with the other. At least his half-humanness made him much warmer than the fully Timelord Doctor had always been.

Their shoes clapped against the cement as they sped towards the eerie corner store ahead, slowing as their destination grew ever closer. Once the Doctor had cut his speed roughly in half, Rose craned her neck to whisper in his ear, "If you're scared, we can always go home."

The Doctor returned her quip with a look of pure shock, then faced forward, mouth still hung open. Rose felt him pick up his speed again. "Rose Tyler, I've fought Daleks and Cybermen and-"

"My mum's cooking?"

"Exactly!"

They shared a quick laugh before the Doctor continued. "One little, human corner store with two-pence lights is not going to scare me."

An unexpected siren whirred in the distance. Rose thought the Doctor was going to break her hand with how tightly he grabbed her fingers. She felt him quicken his pace yet more, struggling to keep her poker face.

They entered the shop one right after the other, hands holding onto each other like a lifeline. The bell above the floor clinked as they opened it, sending fast shivers of panic down both of their spines. Both of them shrugged off their fear as the exhausted-looking cashier man turned up from his phone. The Doctor smiled to him brightly. The man merely sighed and went back to texting.

Rose leaned into the Doctor's sleeve, clinging to it for warmth and safety in the air-conditioned, blindingly white, fluorescently lit store. "Still want coffee?"

The Doctor shook his head with a smile and went straight to the small, green tiled counter where the coffee pot sat. Rose ignored the way he crinkled his nose at the strange, dark liquid as he poured it into the closest styrofoam cup. He didn't even put a collar around the coffee to hold it, as the cup wasn't steaming at all. When he offered Rose a cup, she dismissed it with a smile and a raised hand. "I'm good, thanks."

The Doctor edged her on, raising the coffee pot up towards her face. "Come on, Rose, don't be a spoil sport!"

The young woman rolled her eyes, letting her hand drop back to her side. "Fine; but it's just gonna be a waste of your money."

The Doctor shook his head again as he poured another styrofoam cup of the cold coffee. When he was finished and had covered the murky liquid with a lid, he passed it off to his companion. She nodded to him in thanks.

"Shall we pay for these delicious beverages now?"

Rose closed her eyes for a momen as the Doctor went off to the front counter. The man was eyeing them like they had been drinking. Rose certainly felt like she had. The Doctor dropped the adamant amount of coins onto the table and even gave the man a tip, even though Rose tried to protest from beside him. When the man finally handed them a receipt, along with a raised eyebrow, the two left the corner shop and started towards their small house down the street.

The walk home took half the time as getting there and before the couple was truly ready, they were back at the table staring at the piles of work in front of them. This time, their coffee sat in front of them, almost daring them to drink it. Rose eyed it back with curiosity and disgust.

The Doctor pulled his coffee towards him and eyed it mysteriously. Rose smiled with her tongue in between her teeth before turning back to her paperwork. "Having second thoughts?"

A determined look came to the Doctor's eye, and he grabbed the coffee off of the table, still staring at Rose. Then, he nodded to her cup, which was still glaring at her from the wooden tabletop.

"Can we heat it first?"

He shook his head. "That might ruin it."

Rose sighed, but begrudgingly picked up her coffee cup. "Alright, let's get this over with."

"On three?"

Rose nodded.

"1...2...3!"

They both tilted their cups up and let the disgustingly cold coffee run down their throats. The Doctor slammed his cup down almost instantly, forcing his mouth to stay shut as all of his tastebuds screamed in protest.

Rose was less dignified. The second the liquid touched her tongue, she covered her mouth with her hand and ran to the kitchen. The Doctor heard her spit the old coffee into the sink. He couldn't help the smile that came to his face.

"That was absolutely horrible."

The Doctor grinned at his distraught companion, whose eyes were staring at him widely from the doorway. "It was fun, though, eh?"

Rose allowed a smile to stretch across her face. She came back to the table and sat at her work station with new energy, clicking the pen in her hand feverishly as the paperwork loomed in front of her. "That definitely woke me up."

The Doctor spared one last grin at Rose before turning back to his workpile. Without thinking, he picked up the coffee and brought it his lips again. The coffee was in the sink before Rose had realized what he did. When she did find out, she kept laughing at him for the rest of the night.

It was in this manner that they spent the rest of the moonlight hours; pouring over their work and struggling through hundreds of papers, always making jokes and wasting time with each other to make it go faster.

They never went back to that corner shop, at least, not after midnight, but whenever they passed it, they remembered that one sleepless night and grinned.


	5. Shhh!

Shhh!

The best part of living in the human world was, for the Doctor at least, having time to slow down and actually enjoy everything the human world had to offer. One of the greatest of these opportunities was a good ol' visit to the library, where imaginations teemed with life on the shelves and terrifying life forms called 'librarians' loomed over even the quietest of whisperers. It was a Saturday must for the Doctor to go to this old place of wisdom and creativity. The dust layered on the unread books filled his nostrils with that cozy smell of tea and cats; the children sitting cross-legged on the floor of the Junior Room pointed feverishly at the open book in front of them, calling out whenever they found Wally; it was, in his mind, paradise.

It came as a shock when Rose decided she wanted to join him on his weekly exhursion one rainy Saturday in May, but he took the request with a wide, honest smile and led her instantly to his favorite out-of-home building.

"Where is everyone?"

The Doctor put a finger to his lips quickly, darting his eyes over to where the librarian-today, an older gentleman named Mr. Craw-sat peering at a newspaper through the spectacles that had fallen almost completely off of his nose. The Doctor seire he saw the man's eye peek up to look them over. A shiver went doen his spine.

"Rose," his voice was hardly above a whisper. Rose crinkled her eyes at him, an unknowing smile appearing on her face. "Keep your voice down, okay?"

The young woman shook her head, but replied in a lower tone, "Alright; Where is everyone?"

The Doctor guided her past the entrance and into the rows of shelves. He put both hands on her shoulders and glanced to the right and left before answering. "A lot of people don't come when it rains. Personally, I think that's the best time to come, but, you know humans."

Rose bit her lip and peeked to the left, then leaned closer to the Doctor. "So we're the only ones here?"

The Doctor stood on tiptoe, but still couldn't see over the towering bookshelf. He nodded his head confidently. "Probably; yeah."

The Doctor walked off suddenly, leaving Rose blinking with lowered brows in front of the volumes of textbooks. With his hands in his pockets and a wide grin on his face, he looked like a giant kid in a candy store. Rose followed silently behind, glancing over his shoulder as he stopped and pulled out a book from a nearby shelf.

"What've you got there?"

The Doctor merely held the book up, flashing the cover up to Rose, before lowering it again and looking it over. With one hand, he held onto the book, and with the other, he pulled his favorite pair of reading glasses out of his jacket pocket. Rose glanced up at the ceiling and found a sign reading Science Fiction hanging above them. Softly, she chuckled to herself, turning slowly back to the Doctor.

He was sat on the floor, devouring the novel in his hands. His eyes flit across the pages at rapid speed, and his fingers seemed to turn the light, fluttering pages every two seconds. Rose was transfixed, just watching him for a while.

He looked so happy sitting there; a faint, innocent smile stuck on his face. His eyes were unblinking and bright, wideneing every so often as, Rose guessed, the characters in the novel faced new challenges or made quick jokes. He was so absorbed in his reading that he didn't even glance up when Rose jumped down heavily beside him, peeking over his shoulder at the words on the page. The small numer in the corner read 15. Rose whistled in admiration, but silenced herself as she looked back up at the Doctor.

She couldn't help but also note that he was incredibly attractive right here; possibly more than he had ever seemed to be, even to her.

His long, thin fingers held the right hand corner of the page expectantly as his big, sparkling, puppy-dog eyes glided through the words, halting every so often as he took in the information. When he reached the bottom line, his hand would turn over the off-white parchment slowly, and Rose would stare as transfixed as her companion as the page turned over into its almost identical counterpart, containing the same black ink and the same 26 letters, but telling a completely different story; revealing completely new ideas. His right sneaker, hiding halfway beneath his folded legs, bounced incessantly, containing all of his energy within it as his face remained almost stoic. His hair drooped down slightly, feeling the intense weight of gravity, and it bobbed whenever he turned his head to face a new page.

The most endearing of his quirks and mannerisms, though, was the slight partition of his lips. Whenever his eyes grew wider, or his foot started shaking almost uncontrollably, he would lick his lips, closing them just for a second, and then they would separate again, shiny and pink. Rose had only kissed this version of her Doctor once; on the beach on that fateful day when their new life began. It had been too much for them after that; never the right time to ignite that awkward spark that was their romantic relationship. They knew they loved each other, but Rose always had it in the back of her mind that it was like she was cheating on her other Doctor; the fully Timelord one. Of course, she never told this to him. It would've shattered his one, fragile, human heart. But it was always in there, nagging.

As they sat there, though, nudging elbows on the green and blue carpet of the small community library, Rose couldn't hear that small voice anymore. All she saw was her Doctor; her beautiful, intelligent, brave Doctor. The man she loved more than anything else in the universe. There beside her, reading his sci-fi, teasing her with his seemingly perfection

Suddenly, he seemed to grow in front of her, his face approaching hers, until she realized she was moving; she was leaning forward. Her eyes closed as their lips met.

The Doctor made a small noise out of surpise, but leaned in to Rose instantly. He had been doubting himself since he had come to this world; doubted whether this relationship would work; doubting whether Rose could still be with him in that way. But now all of the worry dissipated. The book dropped out of his hand, carelessly, onto the rough floor below, crinkling a few of its pages as it collided. The Doctor held her soft hair in between his fingertips, closing his eyes.

Just as they forgot the world around them, a loud, throaty, "Oi!" shocked them back into reality. The Doctor went crashing back into the bookcase behind him as Rose pulled away, turning wide eyes up to the disgruntled librarian. A few books crashed down onto his head and shoulders noisily.

With an almost smile, Mr. Craw said simply, "Out."

The Doctor hastily apologized and scooped up the fallen books, placing them haphazardly back onto the shelf. Rose was already on her feet biting her lip as he got to his knees, devoid of all books.

Rose grabbed his hand and pulled him up, trudging past the librarian. The Doctor apologized once more as they exited the building, but his "Sorry" turned into a high pitched scream as cold rain poured down suddenly onto their heads and necks, soaking them instantly. The Doctor felt the pressure on his outstretched hand increase and, through the falling rain, Rose called out, "Run!"

And so they ran, once more, through the drenching rain, hand in hand, knowing that they were happier than they'd ever been since they came into this new life. They had each other, completely. All the Doctor lacked was a place to get his weekly reading fix, as he was determined not to meet Mr. Craw's eye for at least a year or two.


End file.
